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Chinese official: No proof to link debris to jet

The Associated Press

Updated:
03/12/2014 10:56:08 PM EDT

BEIJING—A senior Chinese aviation official said Thursday that the authorities could not confirm any link between the floating objects captured on Chinese satellite images to a Malaysia Airlines jet missing for more than five days.

"It is true that the satellite was launched and detected some smoke and what were suspected metal shreds about 37 kilometers (23 miles) southeast of Ho Chi Minh City," said Li Jiaxiang, chief of the Civil Aviation Administration of China. "But after some review, we cannot confirm that they belong to the missing plane."

The three objects of varying sizes were spotted in the sea off the southern tip of Vietnam and east of Malaysia on Sunday morning.

The plane carrying 239 people went missing Saturday morning while flying from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.